Our Little Salad
by InimitableLies
Summary: A sweet little one-shot centering Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and their adorable daughter, Sarada Uchiha. A day where Sarada and her mother yearns to meet their diligent, and dearly missed Sasuke. How will the repenting, but finally free Sasuke respond to his new family members' wishes?


_Our Little Salad_

 _My dear Uchiha._

 _Where are you?_

 _I can't help but miss you every day._

 _Oh, how I yearn to be in your grasp, and weave my fingers through your dark, black hair._

 _Please come back, and wrap us in your arms forever._

 _I will continue to wait; for however long that takes._

Sakura Haruno was currently on her way home from work at the Konoha hospital, hair messy and sticking out in several places due to the exhausting twelve hours she has been through. Her shift was usually through the morning and afternoon, and then she would have the rest of the day to herself. However, the increase in injured shinobi has prevented her from doing so the past few days.

With a heavy sigh, the medic began to walk quicker, anxious and worried about her young daughter that was eagerly awaiting for her arrival. _'Did she eat lunch yet? I hope she didn't skip it again, waiting for me..'_ The woman thought worriedly in her head, mentally scolding herself for not preparing a better meal for her daughter. The lasagna was bound to get cold, and heating it again didn't exactly fit the description of "healthy."

As her worried thoughts jumbled themselves together in her mind, Sakura gradually snapped out of her thoughts as she finally arrived at her house. Shuffling through her bag to fish out the keys, she safely secured them in her hand. The pink haired woman then opened the door to her house impatiently, already shouting out her daughter's name. "Sarada? Sarada! Mama's home!" Sakura exclaimed loudly, and it wasn't long before she was attacked by a small figure with soft, black locks.

A relieved smile dancing on her lips, the young mother wrapped her arms around her beautiful daughter, all the exhaustion and pain seeming to melt away as soon as her baby girl was in her arms. "Mama's so sorry she took so long, sweetie. Did you eat your lunch?" Sakura questioned, the hug slowly broken apart as Sakura's soft emerald eyes gazed into Sarada's black orbs.

Sarada's lips curled into a proud, yet bashful smile at her mother's question. "I reheated it in the microwave for three minutes, and ate all my vegetables like you told me to!" The four year-old girl boasted with pride radiating off of her. Sakura couldn't help but giggle at her daughter's enthusiasm. "That's my girl! You did a wonderful job, baby." She complimented, happiness glowing in her eyes. Sarada was just the perfect little girl. She was _her_ daughter. Her precious treasure she wouldn't trade for anything else in the universe.

Getting up from her spot on the floor, Sakura gently picked Sarada up from the ground as well, and carried her to her room. "Mama?" Sarada asked curiously, her voice bouncy and energetic.

Placing Sarada on her bed, Sakura sat next to her daughter, smiling at the young girl. "Sarada, Mama wants to tell you something. Is that okay?" The medic inquired softly, lacing her fingers together with Sarada's small ones. Sarada nodded eagerly, an excited smile plastered on her face. "Sure! What is it, Mama?" The young girl replied to her mother.

"Sarada, do you.. do you want to see Papa?" Sakura asked, slightly nervous as she peered down at her daughter's face. Truth be told, the pink haired girl was alerted by the Hokage-who was also her best friend and former teammate of Team 7 in the past, that Sasuke had returned just earlier today. Naruto had been surprisingly gentle and understanding when he had announced the news to Sakura, who had many swirling emotions in her mind at the sudden news. But that had only been temporary, as Naruto's serious expression didn't maintain long at Sasuke's arrival. A grin quickly replaced the somber look on his face, and Sakura could only sigh playfully. The Uzumaki did give effort to be refined like a Hokage, but that quickly wore off at his friends' appearance.

Not being able to decline the offer of meeting her greatly missed husband, Sakura nodded along and told Naruto that she would meet Sasuke at the usual meeting spot at 5:30 P.M. The blond haired man merely exposed his signature grin, and told Sakura he would alert Sasuke of that meeting.

At that time, Sakura could only wonder why Naruto was the bridge between them, and _why_ Sasuke hadn't been there at Naruto's office when she arrived. Of course, since this was unusually unexpected, she hadn't prepared a welcome gift, but it would've been nice to see him after such a long time. Sasuke's arrival was usually announced to her through a messenger bird. Yet, this time around it was a complete surprise.

As her flashback abruptly ended, Sakura gazed back at Sarada, and was taken aback by the sight of tears streaming down her daughter's face. Suddenly worried, the pink haired woman quickly pulled the young girl into her arms, whispering and cooing soft words of comfort. "Shh, shh, sweetie. What's wrong?" She questioned as she rocked the girl back and forth in her hold. For a few seconds, Sakura wondered if she had done the wrong thing in telling her daughter about her father.

"I'm sorry, baby. I won't talk about him if it upsets you." Sakura comforted, patting Sarada's back gently. But as soon as she said that, she felt Sarada shake her head, and sniffle. "N-No, Mama. I'm not crying because I'm sad..I just really missed Papa, and I was so happy..!" After her last sentence, a fresh round of tears overcame Sarada, and Sakura softly whispered sweet words in her daughter's ear. However, she was pretty befuddled at Sarada's reply. She thought for sure that Sarada had disliked Sasuke, but she supposed she jumped to conclusions too quickly. "So, Sarada, you want to see Papa?" Sakura asked once more, and Sarada wiped her red puffy eyes and nodded at her mother. "Y-Yes, Mama. I really do."

Sakura smiled, partly relieved, and partly glad that her daughter did not despise her father. She didn't know what she would've told Sasuke, saying that his daughter did not like him. Furthermore, Sakura just purely hated having to see tears running down her baby girl's face. No, she absolutely abhored them. If possible, Sakura would have wished to punch whatever it was that upset her daughter to smithereens.

"Oh, my sweet little girl. I love you so much, Sarada." Sakura said, hugging her daugher closer to her as her sniffles began to cease. "I love you too, Mama." Her daughter's sweet little reply was more than enough in sending a warm feeling through Sakura's chest. Sakura could do nothing but hold her daughter closer to her.

For a few minutes, they had stayed in that position, until Sakura's jade eyes flickered to the clock on the bed stand. It read 5:15 P.M.

She would have to hurry, if she didn't want to be late. Sakura squeezed her daughter's small hand, as Sarada bashfully smiled up at her mother. "Come on, Sarada. We should get ready to see Papa." The woman suggested, and Sarada nodded obediently, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "Yes, Mama."

Within a few minutes, Sakura managed to get herself to look decent, and took off her ponytail, which caused her pink hair to cascade down to her shoulder blades. Sarada watched her mother from the side, giggling here and there at her mother's beauty. Although she didn't voice it out. Sarada had washed her face, and her clothes were perfectly fine, so that was left alone. The two of them were ready by the time the clock hit 5:24 P.M. Holding her daughter's hand tightly in her own, Sakura began walking towards her destination with anxiety, happiness, and hope all mixed together.

Five minutes had barely passed, as Sakura and Sarada arrived at Team 7's former training ground with only a minute left for the time to be 5:30 P.M. It was hard to see from a distance, but as they neared closer, the two of them could decipher a tall, dark figure in the middle of the training ground, near the logs.

Sakura let out a small smile, as Sarada hesitantly let go of her mother's hand and began approaching the figure. Knowing the familiar chakra signature, and that it was most definitely Sasuke; Sakura watched her small girl walk over to her father.

Sasuke then turned around, his black cloak shifting in the edges as he glanced down at the tiny little girl making her way towards him. Not too far away, he could see a woman with pink hair, watching the two of them with an expression Sasuke couldn't quite label. The elder Uchiha then averted his gaze back to the young girl, as she reached up with her small hands to tug at the end of his cloak.

Sasuke's stoic expression melted slightly, as he picked his daughter up with one arm-the one that wasn't prosthetic, and observed his offspring with sharp eyes.

"Sarada." That one word left his tongue, and the said girl beamed at Sasuke, wrapping her fragile looking arms around her father's neck. Sasuke didn't say anything, mildly bewildered at Sarada's enthusiastic, and bright welcome. "Papa, Papa, welcome home..!" The young girl chanted, and Sasuke's eyes softened as he watched his daughter snuggling into his arms.

As he made sure that Sarada was safely secured in his grasp, Sasuke glanced over at Sakura, who was slowly making her way over to her husband and daughter. He quickly assessed her, and despite the small bags under her eyes, knew she was taking care of herself and their daughter. She had done a great job in raising their daughter during the time he was gone, and even though Sasuke didn't voice his thoughts verbally, he had a feeling Sakura already knew by one glance into his eyes.

Sakura looked over Sasuke, and she was relieved to see that he wasn't injured or ill during his travels. It seemed that the concern was mutual, as Sakura glanced up at Sasuke, and noticed that he was doing the same after observing her.

Despite Sakura's long experience of being a shinobi, she still couldn't stop a light pink hue that colored her pale cheeks. Finally, Sasuke spoke. And once again, it was just one word that made her rush into his open arms, which also held their precious daughter.

"Sakura."

"Sasuke, _welcome home._ "

Between the two, their little Salad giggled happily, held protectively in both her Mama and Papa's grasp.

 _The End_


End file.
